


In the Family

by Lies_Unfurl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, IKEA, Light Angst, Post-Episode: s12e19 The Future, Pregnancy, Season/Series 12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-17 01:23:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11265054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lies_Unfurl/pseuds/Lies_Unfurl
Summary: While Castiel and Kelly are furniture shopping, a case of mistaken identity leads to a conversation about angels, family, and the future.





	In the Family

Kelly tugs at the bars of one of the cribs, frowning. “I’m just worried it’s not going to be strong enough,” she says, more to herself than Castiel. 

Where is Castiel, anyway? 

She glances up, panic momentarily rushing over her, before she spots him a few feet behind her. He’s poking at a mobile hung with angels, crescent moons, and sheep, and frowning.

“Isn’t that just the cutest?” says a bubbly voice of a salesperson, who has appeared out of nowhere. She gives a winning smile and jiggles the mobile harder than Castiel had, causing it to light up and play some sort of twinkly music.

Castiel’s frown deepens. Before he can say anything… Castiel-like, the woman’s eyes land on Kelly. Her smile grows, if such a thing is possible. 

“Oh! You’re expecting. Is this your first one? You must be _so_ proud,” she says to Cas, patting his arm. “Fatherhood is _such_ an adventure.”

“The child isn’t mine,” he answers. The salesperson’s smile slowly vanishes. 

After a week spent with the stoic angel, Kelly is getting better at reading his expressions. Right now, she can tell that he’s processing what he said wrong, and how to fix it. Before she can speak up, he says, “It’s, uh, my brother’s.”

The salesperson looks between him and Kelly again. Kelly tries to give a smile that says _No, I am _not_ sleeping with the brother of my babydaddy_. Judging by how the salesperson is still gaping, it hasn’t been very successful.

“He’s in prison,” Castiel says quickly. “Unable to parent properly. I’m making sure that his son grows to be a better man.”

“Oh! Well isn’t that nice of you.” She smiles again and edges away. “Just let me know if you have any questions!”

 _Will this crib be able to contain a child capable of swallowing universes?_ she almost asks. Instead, she takes a deep breath and reminds herself that her full bladder, her aching feet, the sweat accumulating beneath her boobs, and the fact that she’s carrying the literal spawn of Satan isn’t the woman’s fault. 

“Thanks. I think we’re all set for now. Cas?”

He hurries to her side as the salesperson makes a quick escape. “Yes? I like that crib. It goes well with the mural you sketched.”

“Thanks. Do you think it would hold him?”

Cas tugs at the bars just as she did. “No. There’s nothing of human craft that will be able to contain Jack. It looks sturdy, though.” He presses into the cushion, probing the softness. “And comfortable. I would support its purchase.”

She barely hears the last part, having slumped over on the edge of the crib, her face in her hands. There’s a sensation in her chest that tells her she’s on the verge of either sobbing or laughing hysterically.

“Kelly?” She feels Castiel’s hand on her shoulder, the same gentle but firm touch with which he tested the mattress of the crib. “Are you all right?”

“What are we doing here?”

She can hear his frown as he answers. “I thought you had wanted to furnish the nursery? You need a crib. The merits of co-sleeping are debatable, and may ultimately be irrelevant, since I don’t sleep.” He pauses, and she knows by his next, tentative offer that he feels badly for having reminded her that she’ll never have the option to fall asleep in the same bed as her son. “We can leave, if you want.”

“I want…” She presses the heels of her hands to her eyes and considers. “I want ice cream. Can we stop for ice cream?”

 

Twenty minutes later, they walk out of IKEA. Castiel carries one giant package tucked under each arm. She decided to buy the damn crib and, on a whim, threw in a rocking chair as well (Castiel is unsure of if he’ll be able to simply zap Jack to sleep. She figures better safe than sorry). 

Kelly herself only has one bag, containing two stuffed animals. She insisted that they each pick one out. She chose a dog that reminds her of Sunshine, the yellow lab she owned growing up. Castiel got a stuffed gray cat because… well, because. She’s stopped trying to figure out the angel’s motives.

“My phone is recommending a place about halfway between here and the cabin. Is that amicable to you?”

“Yeah, definitely.” She hasn’t had many cravings, which is maybe one good thing about this pregnancy, but right now she’s going to break something if she doesn’t get what she needs. She leans back against the seat and rests a hand on her stomach. Jack kicks.

The place Cas’s phone brings them to turns out to be a joint ice cream stand/petting zoo. It’s kinda weird to be sitting in the pickup truck and eating while a bunch of goats watch them with rectangular pupils, but they have the cake batter ice cream she was craving, vanilla swirled with chunks of cake, thick streams of frosting, and sprinkles. She’s willing to put up with a couple of farm animals that have mythological ties to the devil. It’s worth it.

In the driver’s seat, Castiel digs out mini-marshmallows from his bowl, eying each suspiciously before eating it. “I still don’t understand. There are no rocks in here, and its resemblance to a road is minimal.”

“Do you like it, though?”

“I suppose.” He pokes around until he unearths another marshmallow. “I don’t eat much. Food tastes… different for me than it does for you. And I never had this while I was human. But I suspect I would have enjoyed it.”

“Wait, you were a human?” Funny how they’ve been together for a week and she’s asked him every question she can think of, but she still barely knows him. “So do people actually become angels when they die?”

“Oh, no. Not at all. I was an angel at my creation. I had a, uh, mishap a few years ago that caused me to lose my grace. I got it back,” he adds unnecessarily.

“Huh.” She nods, thinking. She knows that Castiel isn’t like other angels; that was obvious from the moment he chose not to kill her when he had the chance. She still isn’t exactly sure why. “So did you meet the Winchesters while you were a person?”

“No. I pulled Dean’s soul from Hell, back when I was still following Heaven’s orders.”

“Wait, what? Dean was in Hell?” She’s got no lost love for the men who want to strip her child of his future, but she knows that Castiel thinks the world of the brothers, especially Dean. It’s heavily implied every time they come up in conversation, and she isn’t blind – she’s seen him gazing at the dark screen of his phone, looking wistful. “How did he end up there? I mean, he didn’t seem like that bad of a guy.”

“He’s not. The opposite. He sold his soul to save Sam.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“He’s a good man. They both are. You have to understand, their entire lives have been spent fighting monsters that wish to bring humanity to their feet. Sam endured a century of torture in exchange for trapping Lucifer. It’s understandable that they would be frightened when faced with a being of Jack’s power. But despite knowing the risks, they still did everything they could to find a way to disarm him without killing him. They convinced me not to hurt him. I owe them everything.”

“It’s okay. I know.” Working in politics, you have to be good at seeing who’s sincere and who’s selling out their principles for profit. Not that she’s one to judge – god knows she didn’t believe in half of President Rooney’s platform. She cared about her own advancement; there’s no point denying it. But one of the reasons she was a good aide was because of her ability to see through the slimy exteriors of the senators, congressmen, and lobbyists the president had to deal with on a daily basis.

And the Winchesters – they weren’t evil. Maybe they weren’t on her side, but that didn’t make them bad. Life, like politics, was rarely that simple.

“Cas? What you said in IKEA, about Lucifer being your brother – was that true?”

“Oh. Yes. At least, it’s the closest English translation.” He eats a walnut, having apparently run out of marshmallows, and frowns. “We all sprung from the Name. It’s not parentage in the way that you’re Jack’s mother. But the kinship ties are comparable.”

“Huh.” She thinks this over for a moment. She’d heard Cas refer to other angels as his siblings, of course, but it wasn’t until he lied to the salesperson that she began wondering about the meaning behind the language. “So… does that make you Jack’s uncle?”

He frowns again, but this is the frown she has come to recognize as surprise, not disappointment because walnuts are a far cry from marshmallows. “In a manner of speaking. I hadn’t thought about that before.”

She nods slowly, processing. “Castiel?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. For being here. And for giving Jack… what I can’t. I’m glad he gets to stay with family.”

“He does,” Castiel says firmly, swiftly. “Sam and Dean always told me that family doesn’t end with blood. My blood, my DNA – they aren’t exactly mine. But I have family. You’re part of it, and Jack will be when he arrives.”

“You’re an angel,” she says before she can stop herself. Blushing, she follows that up with, “I mean it. Thanks.”

“If I can, in some small way, usher in the future that I saw, then the honor is all mine.” He sets down the cup, having apparently finished his quest for marshmallows. “Can we head home? I don’t like being outside of the wards any longer than necessary.”

“Yeah. Of course.” She chews on a chunk of sweet, frozen birthday cake, wondering again how she got so lucky.

Jack kicks, and she automatically rests a hand upon her stomach. It’s okay, she thinks, and for once, she kind of believes it.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ lies-unfurl.tumblr.com
> 
> comments are always much appreciated <3


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